Greetings, the STED Web site has moved to
https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/usgs-water-mission-area/SitePages/learn_training.aspx.
Please let STED know what you think of our new STED page.

******************************************** A SPOTLIGHT ON ******************************************** Hone your scientific and technical skills by taking an online course whenever and wherever you wish. There are 19 Water Mission Area (WMA) distance- and blended learning courses available with many more in development. See a complete list here at: https://www.usgs.gov/humancapital/ecd/ecd_telavailcourses.html. Remember to register for the courses in DOI Learn so that they appear on your Official DOI Learn transcript. If you have any questions on available online/blended-learning courses, or want to know more about our U.S. Distance Learning Program, please contact Tj Lane at tjlane@usgs.gov. ******************************************** ATTENTION USGS INSTRUCTORS! Please consider piloting live video streaming for your next NTC class. NTC staff are prepared to ensure your video streamed class is successful. Video streaming to a few remote students while simultaneously teaching to your classroom students helps expand the reach of your instruction. Video streaming is especially helpful for employees who need your class and are unable to get travel approval. The process is straightforward, requires no additional time on your part and teaching is almost identical your usual classroom courses! NTC will provide a list of tips and tricks that will help keep your remote students engaged and learning. To discuss the details of providing a video streaming option for your next NTC class contact: Patty Gonwa, 303-445-4680, pmgonwa@usgs.gov Ralph Roland 303-445-4678, raroland@usgs.gov Alan Ward 303-445-4669, amward@usgs.gov ******************************************** GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT NEW, LISTED AND PREVIOUSLY LISTED COURSES AND TRAINING ******************************************** OFFICE OF SURFACE WATER (OSW) NEW ONLINE HYDROACOUSTICS WEBINARS AVAILABLE THE WEBINARS LISTED BELOW ARE ONLINE AT: https://hydroacoustics.usgs.gov/training/webinars.shtml -DESCRIPTIONS FOR EACH WEBINAR ARE PROVIDED BELOW- *Effective Review of FlowTracker Measurements: Highlights best practices for FlowTracker ADV mid-section streamflow measurements and their effective review. *Using SWAMI with Acoustic Instruments: This webinar covers current (May 2013) usage of SWAMI in the USGS, configuration files in SWAMI, Staging/Importing acoustic measurements, loading SWAMI files into SiteVisit using the loader and drag and drop, viewing SWAMI files in SiteVisit and on local directories, archiving "paperless" measurement files, and help/resources. *Get Acquainted with the Latest Versions of LC, SMBA: Recently the USGS released updates to the utility programs LC and SMBA for processing moving bed tests. Based on the algorithms developed by the USGS and used in these utilities, SonTek and TRDI have updated their data collection software to process loop and stationary moving bed tests. In this webinar the changes in the algorithms in LC and SMBA, how this will affect moving best test results, and the differences in the way in which the manufacturers have implemented these features in their software are discussed. *GPS Best Practices For Moving-Boat ADCP Q Measurements: This webinar discusses best practices for using GPS with ADCPs for measuring streamflow. Topics covered include: a) GPS requirements and preferred settings, b) importance of valid compass headings, c) detecting compass calibration issues, d) determining magnetic declination, e) reviewing GPS quality, and f) selecting the best reference. *Status of Testing of Hydroacoustic Instruments: In this webinar, an overview of the USGS testing program is provided along with examples of the different kinds of testing. The status of USGS analysis of comparison measurements for TRDIs RiverRay and SonTek M9s/S5s and Ott ADCs as of February 2013 is presented. OSW's plans for future testing activities in 2013 are discussed, including the initial implementation of an ADCP lab testing program similar to that for the Flowtracker ADV. An update on requirements for routine QA of ADCPs is also provided. *Review and Rating of Moving-Boat ADCP Q Measurements: This webinar presents approaches to reviewing and rating discharge measurements made using ADCPs. The steps presented for rating a measurement while using some quantitative values are qualitative in nature and are focused at determining an Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor rating rather than a quantitative uncertainty. In addition to presenting steps for review of measurements, three measurement examples are used to demonstrate the proposed approach. *ADCP Compass Calibrations - Policies and Best Practices: This webinar reviews OSW policies as well as best practices for compass calibration when making ADCP discharge measurements. *Best Practices for Collecting Mid-section Discharge Measurements with ADCPs: This webinar: (a) discusses when mid-section methods should be used, (b) provides an overview of the software available for making mid-section measurements, and (c) discusses best practices for mid-section ADCP discharge measurements. *Highlights of Index Velocity T&M - New Policies & Procedures *Use of Sontek RS Live for Collection and Review of ADCP Measurements: In this webinar, the key features of the SonTek/YSI RiverSurveyor Live software are discussed. Topics covered include: a) data collection and processing with RiverSurveyor Live PC, b) data collection with RiverSurveyor Live mobile, and c) use of USGS specific programs (SMBA, LC, extrap) with RiverSurveyor data files. *QA of Hydroacoustics Instruments - What's My Responsibility? Webinar on QA practices for hydroacoustic instruments in the USGS. Topics include: acceptance testing, post factory repair testing, and user testing, when comparison measurements ought to be made, current policies regarding comparison measurements with new equipment, annual check measurements, beam alignment tests, and other QA practices. *What's New in Hydroacoustics: An overview of the latest tools, techniques, applications, and resources for hydroacoustic discharge measurements. The intent of the webinar is to update USGS staff on instruments/technologies, review important policies (especially new ones), and common issues. *Field experiences with Ott ADC and Results of OSW Testing: Dan Wagner describes the OTT ADC meter and summarizes the latest results of USGS testing. *Getting ADCP data from the field into the database in a paperless world - SWAMI, Site Visit and other Tools: Review of how to get ADCP data from the field into the USGS NWIS database. An overview of the use of SWAMI, Site Visit and other tools are presented and practical considerations discussed. Presented by Joe Nielsen, OSW and Liz Hittle, PA WSC. *Understanding and documenting index velocity rating analysis (No Recording): Victor Levesque presents a webinar on understanding and documenting regression analysis to develop an index velocity rating. The webinar summarizes recommended approaches for documenting rating analyses for index-velocity ratings and provides specific examples. An example rating spreadsheet is available here. *Reviewing and rating ADCP discharge measurements (No Recording): David Mueller discusses approaches to reviewing and rating discharge measurements made using ADCPs. In addition to presenting steps for review of measurements, David provides three measurement examples, shows how he reviewed them, and how he assigned an overall rating to the measurements. *Lessons From OSW Technical Reviews for Hydroacoustics: This webinar summarizes common issues related to hydroacoustics as identifed during Office of Surface Water Technical Reviews of USGS Water Science Centers, 2007-2009. *Single and multi-frequency hydroacoustics for monitoring suspended-sediment transport: Techniques have been developed to use acoustic backscatter from acoustic Doppler velocity meters (ADVMs) to estimate suspended sediment concentrations in rivers. ADVMs are often used for velocity measurements in streams using the index velocity method. The Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project (FISP) has provided funding for developing a manual and standardized method for using acoustics backscatter for sediment measurements. This webinar summarizes current progress on this work. *Summary of an Analysis of GPS-based (GGA and VTG) ADCP Discharge Measurements: Chad Wagner and David Mueller provided an overview of an ongoing analysis to quantify the bias and random noise associated with GPS-based (VTG and GGA) ADCP discharge measurements relative to bottom-track bottom-track based discharge measurements. The GPS equipment utilized in the analysis is limited to GPS receivers with the capability of providing sub-meter positional accuracy, and does not include Real-time Kinematic (RTK) GPS units. The analysis is based on 63 bottom-track and GPS-referenced discharge measurements comprised of 579 individual discharge measurement transects collected at 42 different sites across the United States, Canada and New Zealand between 2002 and 2007 by various field personnel from the USGS, Environment Canada and New Zealand?s National Institute of Water and Atmosphere using various deployment techniques and ADCPs. The analysis also evaluated measured discharges using differentially corrected GGA as the navigation reference for three wide-area satellite-based differential correction sources commonly used in North America (WAAS, OminStar and CDGPS). *Tips on Use of Boothtooth Radios with ADCPs: Paul Diaz provides an overview on the use of Bluetooth radios with ADCPs. Bluetooth and other types of wireless systems are used in conjunction with laptops or PDAs to communicate with ADCPs. This allows hydrographers to configure and collect ADCP data from remote controlled or tethered boats without the need to be directly connected. The presentation covers the types of wireless systems currently available, their typical uses, example hardware and software settings, and troubleshooting. *Congo Field Trip (No Recording): John Shelton discusses his experiences while making measurements of velocity and discharge on the Congo River. Water depths in excess of 600 feet and water velocities in excess of 15 ft/s were measured during this work. Measured discharges were greater than 1.26 million ft3/s. *ADCP "Best Practices" (No Recording): Overview of contents of "Measuring Discharge with Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers from a Moving Boat, Techniques and Methods Report, Chapter 22 of Book 3, Section A, by David S. Mueller and Chad R. Wagner. *Best Practices for ADVMs: Review of best practices for operation of acoustic Doppler velocity meters (ADVMs) at Index Velocity gages. *Updates to LC and SMBA: Discusses 1) recent updates to LC to provide automated QA/QC of loop tests and corrections, 2) use of SMBA to correct discharges using multiple stationary moving-bed tests, and 3) release of WinRiver II 2.04 with changes to the depth screening alogrithms. *Release of WinRiver II v. 2.03: Overview on the use of WinRiver II software version 2.03. Topics include: improvements to stability, modifications to the side-lobe cut-off algorithm and how it can affect discharge totals, etc. *What's New in Hydroacoustics: Discussion of new tools, techniques, and applications in hydroacoustics. *Bathymetry Basics: Webinar presented by Gary Wilson, Missouri WSC, discussing bathymetric mapping of reservoirs in Missouri. The presentation includes discussions of basic equipment, preparation, field techniques, quantifying and specifying data accuracy, and generating contour maps in Arc. *Use of OSW Hydroacoustics Forums: Presentation on the use of the Hydroacoustics Community forum as an additional support mechanism for hydroacoustics users *Mid-Section Measurements with ADCPs: Discussion of use of ADCPs for discharge measurements with the mid-section method. *Streampro in Moving-Bed Conditions: Problems and solutions associated with making moving-bed test with a Streampro and adjusting the discharge to correct for a moving-bed. *Introduction to WinRiver II: Webinar introducing TRDI's new WinRiver II software and reviewing the OSW policy memo on this subject. THE ABOVE WEBINARS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT https://hydroacoustics.usgs.gov/training/webinars.shtml ******************************************** Course Name: Introduction to Streamgaging-Blended Course Number: USGS-OED-SW1749-Blended Course Description: This course is a blended-learning event. Two on-line prerequisite courses must be completed before attending this class. Prerequisites include "Surface-Water Procedures and Policies" (SW1660) and "Procedures for Running Levels at Gaging Stations" (SW1683). After student completes the prerequisite courses, they attend the "Introduction to Streamgaging" class in Denver. Approximate seat time for this blended-learning event is 68 hours. This 3.5-day class is designed to provide the student with an overview of USGS surface-water field procedures and gaging-station operations. Field activities are emphasized. Students will need notebooks and writing utensils, electronic calculators, and field clothing for a mid-summer day in the Denver area. Cumulative duration of this class and on-line prerequisites is approx. 68 hours. ******************************************** COURSE: Availability of Web-based Course on Water-Quality Principles (QW1022-TEL) DESCRIPTION: a new, Web-based course in water-quality principles. This course was developed by the Office of Water Quality to serve and facilitate the need of Water Science Center personnel who are or will be engaged in water-quality studies and who would benefit from review or foundational training in topics covering the spectrum of the water-quality discipline. The course is available only online, offering Water Science Center personnel and other interested students the opportunity of taking water-quality principles training in a self-paced format at their local Center. This course replaces the Water-Quality Principles class that previously was taught at the National Training Center in Denver. It complements the 2-week water-quality field course by providing an introduction to the principles, concepts, and practices that underlie the development and execution of water-quality studies. Lesson modules consist of lecture material, readings, instructional and informational videos, and real-time sessions with an instructor who is a subject-matter expert. This course is self-paced within the constraints of the dates shown. It is recommended, however, that students plan to complete this 40-hour course within 2 weeks after the start date. ******************************************** COURSE: “Procedures for running levels at gaging stations -Training Course SW1683” DESCRIPTION: This course Use narrated slide presentations and field-based video clips, this on-line course illustrates how methods presented in Techniques and Methods Report 3-A19, "Levels at Gaging Stations", by T. A. Kenney should be implemented. The availability and importance of Techniques and Methods Report 3-A19 was summarized in Office of Surface Water Technical Memorandum 2001.05. The course covers modules on the following topics · Why Maintain Datum? · Leveling Equipment · Leveling Frequency · Basic Leveling Concepts · Preparations to Ensure Successful Field Work · Running Levels · Example Level Run ******************************************** Introduction to Modeling River Flow, Sediment Transport, Habitat, and Morphodynamics within the iRIC Modeling Interface This class covers a broad spectrum of river modeling techniques within the International River Interface Cooperative (iRIC) public-domain modeling interface The course is taught in a workshop format starting with basic data input and stepping through the processes of grid generation, model execution, visualization, and verification. The interface incorporates a variety of computational modeling approaches including finite difference and finite volume models using both structured and unstructured coordinate systems; only a subset of the available techniques will be covered in this short class. Basic principles will be briefly covered, but the emphasis of this short course is hands-on application using data sets for realistic problems on real rivers. Students should bring a laptop with 1 GB of ram, a few gigs of empty hard disk space, and the XP operating system. Users will need to have software installation capabilities on their laptops, so check with your administrator. Bring data sets with topography, water-surface elevations, and any other data if you would like some assistance with your own projects. The class will be taught by Jonathan Nelson and Richard McDonald at the USGS Geomorphology and Sediment Transport Laboratory. There is no charge for the course. ******************************************** REGISTRATIONS FOR ALL OED CLASSES MUST BE COMPLETED IN DOI LEARN AT THE FOLLOWING URL: https://www.doi.gov/doilearn If you have DOI LEARN questions, please forward them to: oeddoilearn@usgs.gov for assistance. DOI LEARN registration steps to acquire a seat in a course: 1) employee registers at the course level 2) employee’s supervisor reviews registration and approves/denies 3) if approved, employee then enrolls at the class level 4) DOI LEARN will forward confirmation into the class via email. DO NOT MAKE TRAVEL RESERVATIONS OR SHOW UP FOR THE CLASS WITHOUT RECEIVING ATTENDANCE CONFIRMATION FROM DOI LEARN To access a course in DOI LEARN: 1. Log into DOI LEARN at https://www.doi.gov/doilearn 2. Enter your username and password 3. Click on “Settings and Preferences” then click on “My Profile” and check your profile to make sure the correct supervisor/alternate is listed under the Supervisor tab 4. Click “Save” if any changes were made and then click on close record 5. Go back to the Learning and Metrics tab and click on Catalog 6. Type the key words of the course title into the Search field and click “Search” 7. Scroll down until you find the correct course 8. Click on “details” of the course needed, click on “Submit Request”, click on “Begin” to get to the Learning Request that needs to be filled out, when finished filling out the form click “Save” 9. Once you have done this an email goes to your Assigned Supervisor requesting Approval or Denial. The supervisor would then to the Approval Manager Area and once their decision has been made an email goes out telling you to go back into the system and enroll in the Scheduled Class you are looking for. ***********************END******************

• Catalog of Available training courses for The National Map   • NEW !
• Available Online Courses, Other CD-ROM and Web-based Training, and Online Courses in Development   • NEW !
• Water Mission Area Training Needs Survey 2017-18.xlsx    • NEW !
• All Known WMA Courses Including Descriptions   • NEW !
• Get an email regarding USGS courses of interest.
  STED strongly recommends that all USGS Employees subscribe to the automatic email course announcement via the OED Listserv.
  For instructions on how to subscribe by course topic see: https://www.usgs.gov/humancapital/documents/Listserv.pdf
• All courses scheduled at the USGS National Training Center or supported by OED at various USGS office locations will show up on the National and Regional Course Schedules as they are available.
• Courses from all Interior agencies are listed on the DOI LEARN Course Catalog.
  See the DOI LEARN How To Tutorials for specific instructions.

• Office of Surface Water Training(OSW)
• Office of Water Quality Training(OWQ)
• Office of Groundwater Training(OGW)
• Scheduled USGS Courses in DOI LEARN (NTC)

• Mentoring Program for USGS Employees
• Available TEL Courses, WEB-based & Blended Training
• What is Distance Learning?
• CD-Rom and Computer Based Training
• Tip Sheets and Instrumentation Training
• Hydrologic Data Advisory Committee
• Data Committee's - National Hydrologic Data and Information Depot
• Hydroacoustic Training Classes
• (HIF) Technical and Equipment Training
• (HIF) Vendor Links
• HydroTech Toolbox 2008
• Watershed Modeling
• Shared Workforce Ad Portal (SWAP)   NEW !

• External Training Links